Real-time consumer interaction via media broadcast

ABSTRACT

A system for integrated consumer interaction via media broadcast, comprising an immediate communication system that communicated with a media provider and a communications system, wherein the consumer submits a request to a content provider for interaction that is then handled by the immediate communication to establish an interaction with a communication system, and a method for providing integrated consumer interaction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority is claimed in the application data sheet to the followingpatents or patent applications, the entire written description of eachof which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety:

Ser. No. 17/014,889

Ser. No. 14/247,251

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the field of consumer advertising andinteraction, and more particularly to the field of interacting with aconsumer through a media broadcast.

Discussion of the State of the Art

Almost every company today spends a great deal of money on marketing andadvertising. Some forms of advertising are relatively cheap, while otherforms of advertising, live TV commercials, are very expensive—especiallyduring prime viewing hours or during special events. The goal of TVadvertising is really focused around two primary objectives.

One objective is to reinforce the company's brand and awareness in themarket to ensure that when a consumer or company may need thatproduct/service they think of them first. This type of focused TVadvertising is usually utilized by the major consumer product companies,like BUDWEISER™, PEPSI™, and others. Their goal to make sure that thenext time a consumer is going to purchase a product they provide, thattheir brand is chosen over the competition.

Another objective for investing in expensive TV advertising is to exciteand motivate the consumer to do something “now”. This is referred to as“call to action” marketing, and Companies that invest in this type of TVadvertising usually display a toll free number on the screen, repeat thenumber multiple times throughout the commercial, and try to prompt theconsumer to pick up the phone and call. Companies that use this type ofadvertising strategy will look to show their commercial during a type ofshow (drama, comedy, miniseries, sports events . . . ), and during timesthat fit the demographics of the type of consumer they are marketing.They also realize that the greatest consumer response to the commercialwill happen during, or shortly after the commercial airs—after that, theconsumer will usually forget, get distracted, or lose interest inpurchasing the product.

Investing in live TV advertising has been the steadfast form ofmarketing for companies to get their company/brand in front of existingand potential customers. Since most companies are targeting similarconsumer profile types, and the prime viewing hours are so expensivethat usually only the major brands can afford competing for advertisingslots made available by the broadcasters. This makes live TV commercialsone of the most expensive forms of advertising/marketing that a companywill invest in, and in the case of “call to action” advertising thecompany will see very little return on their investment unless theconsumer watching the commercial immediately contacts them.

The easier a company can make it for a consumer to get in contact with,the more likely it is that they (the consumer) will do what the companyis trying to accomplish with the commercial—which is to contact thecompany. Providing a toll-free telephone contact number takes away anypotential toll cost to the consumer associated with calling the company,but it really doesn't make it easier for them and today toll freenumbers are viewed as “expected” by consumers. However, calling acompany can be viewed by consumers as aggravating, because they have totypically get up from the couch/chair, write down or remember thenumber, and then grab the phone and dial, and then they know that thecall will be answered by an automated system asking them to enter/pressnumbers. This can be a major deterrent for the consumer to act on theirinitial reaction to call the company after viewing a commercial. Thismeans that companies are not realizing the full return on their TVadvertising investment simply because it is perceived by the consumersas too much effort.

What is needed is a means to integrate consumer contact or interactionwith the media broadcasts that contain advertisements intended to targetthem—thereby alleviating any perceived inconvenience caused by thecontact, and expediting the interaction process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, in apreferred embodiment of the invention, a system and method forintegrating contact queuing methodologies and systems into networkbroadcasting advertising and programming systems that are linked withthe advertising companies sales and service resources, and that mayutilize and integrate with the readily available consumer based receiverhardware (such as a remote, “smart” device, and cable/TV box).

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a system forintegrated consumer contact via media broadcasts, comprising animmediate contact system (ICS) that may be in two-way communication witha plurality of network broadcasters (such as television or radiostations, online content broadcasters such as PANDORA™ or other contentbroadcasters) and may further be in two-way communication with aplurality of communication systems (such as a contact center), isdisclosed. According to the embodiment, a consumer may be viewingcontent such as (for example) a television advertisement, and mayoptionally select to interact with a company such as by making aselection via a remote control (as may be utilized with television-basedcontent) or via any appropriate interaction interface according to thenature of content being viewed (such as, for example, via a clickable,or otherwise interactive interface element in a software mediaapplication operating on a “smart” device such as a smartphone orpersonal computing device). For example, a consumer may be viewing anadvertisement for a product, and the advertisement may include a promptfor communication such as “press ENTER on your remote now to speak witha representative”, and if a consumer wishes to engage in communication,they may begin an interaction as prompted. In this manner, a consumermay have control over whether an interaction takes place, preventingunsolicited contact attempts (such as telemarketing, which is oftenconsidered obtrusive and undesired by consumers), and may initiate suchcontact via any relevant interaction means according to the device beingused or content being viewed. Additionally, the invention may beutilized with existing hardware or software for media presentation,making integration and adoption easier for consumers, manufacturers, andcontent providers.

According to the embodiment, when a consumer makes an appropriaterequest as described above, a contact request may be sent to an ICS viaa messaging service operated by a content provider (such that individualcontent providers may easily choose whether to enable immediatecommunication with their broadcasts, for example by enabling ordisabling a messaging service), and an ICS may then notify anappropriate communication system, such as an agent within a company'scontact center, or may connect a consumer directly according to thenature of a contact request. For example, a consumer may be given achoice such as “connect now” (such as to speak immediately with acompany representative) or “request contact” (such as to schedulecontact in the future). In this manner, a consumer may be given furthercontrol over the manner of contact such as scheduling around theirconvenience or submitting a preferred contact method (“call me at thisnumber”) or other preferences. Should a consumer request a contact, anICS may notify an appropriate communication system so that contact maybe attempted accordingly. Otherwise, the ICS may attempt to connect aconsumer directly, such as connecting a call when requested by aconsumer from a software application operating on a device capable ofcommunication, such as a smartphone.

In this manner, it may be appreciated that an ICS may operate as afunctional connection between content providers and communicationsystems that may otherwise be separate and disconnected from oneanother. This may provide a consumer with increased convenience byoffering direct interaction capabilities without requiring them tolocate or manually input contact information, or even without needing tooperate interactive communication systems such as an interactive voiceresponse (IVR) as is commonly utilized by contact centers in the art.When making a request according to the invention, an ICS may submitrequired information relevant to a contact request that might otherwisehave been selected by a consumer via interactions with an IVR. Forexample, whereas traditionally a consumer might be prompted to selectthe reason for their call via an IVR, an ICS may notify a communicationsystem accordingly, such as “consumer requests contact regarding productX”, saving time and increasing convenience for both consumer andprovider.

I will be appreciated that by engaging in two-way communication withmedia providers and communication systems as described above, an ICS maybe given access to relevant information for facilitating the processingof consumer contact requests, such as operating hours or other contactinformation for communication systems (such as contact centers orpersonal phone numbers), or information relevant to a consumer that maybe provided by a media provider (for example, a provider may alreadyknow what device a user is viewing content on, and may provide thatinformation to an ICS for use in determining the best way to handle acontact request). In this manner, by providing as much relevantinformation as possible to an ICS, the need for manual interaction by aconsumer or other party may be minimized and contact may be made morerapid and convenient for all involved parties.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, a method forintegrated contact via media broadcasts is disclosed. According to theembodiment, contact may be provided as an integral feature of mediabroadcasts such as television advertisements (or any suitable media thatmay be presented to a consumer), to facilitate rapid and convenientinteraction between consumers (such as may be viewing or otherwiseconsuming media) and a company (or any party that may be providing orotherwise relevant to the media). For example, a consumer may be able torequest contact with a company while viewing an advertisement for theirproduct, or may be able to request contact with a radio station whilelistening to their broadcast, or even request contact with an internetuser while listening to or watching media uploaded by that user (Such asa video on YOUTUBE™, for example).

According to the embodiment, in an initial step a consumer may selectcontent for viewing. This content and its viewing may vary in nature,such as listening to an audio broadcast or watching a video, and mayvary according to the nature of the media being presented as well as thedevice it is being presented on (for example, a consumer may not be ableto view video content on an audio player device without a screen, butmay hear the audio portion of a video broadcast). In a next step, an ICSmay be notified of the content selected (and optionally and additionalrelevant information such as a user's device information or location,such as for determining language preference or local time), and in asubstep an ICS may retrieve any stored information that may be relevant,such as previously-established consumer preferences, or informationregarding communication systems relevant to the media being viewed (suchas contact centers operated by a company providing content, or an emailaddress associated with an internet user that uploaded content beingviewed). In a next step a consumer may submit a contact request, such asby selecting an interactive interface element that submits a request,and if needed may additional information (such as contact preferences)may be retrieved and submitted along with a request (for example, a usermay manually select or input such information, or it may be retrievedautomatically, such as by reading a user's language and time preferencesfrom a smartphone used to submit a contact request). In a next step, anICS may process this information to determine how to handle a contactrequest, such as choosing to engage a contact center if a consumer isoperating a smartphone, or to schedule a future contact attempt if arequest is submitted outside of operating hours, or any other suchdetermination according to information received. In an optional finalstep, an ICS may return a notification to a media provider forpresentation to a consumer, such as to confirm a request wassuccessfully submitted, or to provide any relevant details such as thetime of a scheduled contact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention according to the embodiments. One skilled inthe art will recognize that the particular embodiments illustrated inthe drawings are merely exemplary, and are not intended to limit thescope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device used in an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical architecturefor a client device, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an exemplary architectural arrangementof clients, servers, and external services, according to an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 4 is another block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device used in various embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a system architecture diagram illustrating an exemplary systemfor consumer contact integration with media broadcasts, according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a method flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method forproviding consumer contact integrated with media broadcasts, accordingto a preferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventor has conceived, and reduced to practice, a system and methodfor integrated consumer contact via media broadcasts.

One or more different inventions may be described in the presentapplication. Further, for one or more of the inventions describedherein, numerous alternative embodiments may be described; it should beunderstood that these are presented for illustrative purposes only. Thedescribed embodiments are not intended to be limiting in any sense. Oneor more of the inventions may be widely applicable to numerousembodiments, as is readily apparent from the disclosure. In general,embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice one or more of the inventions, and it is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural,logical, software, electrical and other changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the particular inventions. Accordingly,those skilled in the art will recognize that one or more of theinventions may be practiced with various modifications and alterations.Particular features of one or more of the inventions may be describedwith reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures thatform a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way ofillustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the inventions. Itshould be understood, however, that such features are not limited tousage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures withreference to which they are described. The present disclosure is neithera literal description of all embodiments of one or more of theinventions nor a listing of features of one or more of the inventionsthat must be present in all embodiments.

Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the titleof this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to betaken as limiting the disclosure in any way.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries, logical or physical.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required. Tothe contrary, a variety of optional components may be described toillustrate a wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of theinventions and in order to more fully illustrate one or more aspects ofthe inventions. Similarly, although process steps, method steps,algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, suchprocesses, methods and algorithms may generally be configured to work inalternate orders, unless specifically stated to the contrary. In otherwords, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in thispatent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of describedprocesses may be performed in any order practical. Further, some stepsmay be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied asoccurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described afterthe other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one ormore of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustratedprocess is preferred. Also, steps are generally described once perembodiment, but this does not mean they must occur once, or that theymay only occur once each time a process, method, or algorithm is carriedout or executed. Some steps may be omitted in some embodiments or someoccurrences, or some steps may be executed more than once in a givenembodiment or occurrence.

When a single device or article is described, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of asingle device or article. Similarly, where more than one device orarticle is described, it will be readily apparent that a single deviceor article may be used in place of the more than one device or article.

The functionality or the features of a device may be alternativelyembodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly describedas having such functionality or features. Thus, other embodiments of oneor more of the inventions need not include the device itself.

Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein will sometimesbe described in singular form for clarity. However, it should be notedthat particular embodiments include multiple iterations of a techniqueor multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise.Process descriptions or blocks in figures should be understood asrepresenting modules, segments, or portions of code which include one ormore executable instructions for implementing specific logical functionsor steps in the process. Alternate implementations are included withinthe scope of embodiments of the present invention in which, for example,functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed,including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending onthe functionality involved, as would be understood by those havingordinary skill in the art.

Definitions

A “consumer”, as used herein, may be any person or party that may viewor otherwise consume media. For example, a consumer may be an individualviewing a television commercial, or a computer user listening to anaudio recording over the Internet, or any other appropriate mediaconsumption.

A “provider”, as used herein, may be any party that may present mediafor viewing or consumption by consumers. For example, a provider may bea company providing advertisements via television or other broadcasts,or an individual providing content for viewing over the Internet (suchas a video on YOUTUBE™ or other hosting service), or a hosting serviceproviding media on behalf of media creators (such as YOUTUBE™ itself,providing user-uploaded media content).

Hardware Architecture

Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented onhardware or a combination of software and hardware. For example, theymay be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate userprocess, in a library package bound into network applications, on aspecially constructed machine, on an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), or on a network interface card.

Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some of theembodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on a programmablenetwork-resident machine (which should be understood to includeintermittently connected network-aware machines) selectively activatedor reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such networkdevices may have multiple network interfaces that may be configured ordesigned to utilize different types of network communication protocols.A general architecture for some of these machines may be disclosedherein in order to illustrate one or more exemplary means by which agiven unit of functionality may be implemented. According to specificembodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of thevarious embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on one or moregeneral-purpose computers associated with one or more networks, such asfor example an end-user computer system, a client computer, a networkserver or other server system, a mobile computing device (e.g., tabletcomputing device, mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, and the like), aconsumer electronic device, a music player, or any other suitableelectronic device, router, switch, or the like, or any combinationthereof. In at least some embodiments, at least some of the features orfunctionalities of the various embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented in one or more virtualized computing environments (e.g.,network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted on one or morephysical computing machines, or the like).

Referring now to FIG. 1 , there is shown a block diagram depicting anexemplary computing device 100 suitable for implementing at least aportion of the features or functionalities disclosed herein. Computingdevice 100 may be, for example, any one of the computing machines listedin the previous paragraph, or indeed any other electronic device capableof executing software- or hardware-based instructions according to oneor more programs stored in memory. Computing device 100 may be adaptedto communicate with a plurality of other computing devices, such asclients or servers, over communications networks such as a wide areanetwork a metropolitan area network, a local area network, a wirelessnetwork, the Internet, or any other network, using known protocols forsuch communication, whether wireless or wired.

In one embodiment, computing device 100 includes one or more centralprocessing units (CPU) 102, one or more interfaces 110, and one or morebusses 106 (such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus). Whenacting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, CPU 102may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated withthe functions of a specifically configured computing device or machine.For example, in at least one embodiment, a computing device 100 may beconfigured or designed to function as a server system utilizing CPU 102,local memory 101 and/or remote memory 120, and interface(s) 110. In atleast one embodiment, CPU 102 may be caused to perform one or more ofthe different types of functions and/or operations under the control ofsoftware modules or components, which for example, may include anoperating system and any appropriate applications software, drivers, andthe like.

CPU 102 may include one or more processors 103 such as, for example, aprocessor from one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families ofmicroprocessors. In some embodiments, processors 103 may includespecially designed hardware such as application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories(EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, forcontrolling operations of computing device 100. In a specificembodiment, a local memory 101 (such as non-volatile random accessmemory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM), including for example one ormore levels of cached memory) may also form part of CPU 102. However,there are many different ways in which memory may be coupled to system100. Memory 101 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, forexample, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, and thelike.

As used herein, the term “processor” is not limited merely to thoseintegrated circuits referred to in the art as a processor, a mobileprocessor, or a microprocessor, but broadly refers to a microcontroller,a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, anapplication-specific integrated circuit, and any other programmablecircuit.

In one embodiment, interfaces 110 are provided as network interfacecards (NICs). Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of datapackets over a computer network; other types of interfaces 110 may forexample support other peripherals used with computing device 100. Amongthe interfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relayinterfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces,graphics interfaces, and the like. In addition, various types ofinterfaces may be provided such as, for example, universal serial bus(USB), Serial, Ethernet, Firewire™, PCI, parallel, radio frequency (RF),Bluetooth™, near-field communications (e.g., using near-fieldmagnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fast Ethernetinterfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, asynchronous transfer mode(ATM) interfaces, high-speed serial interface (HSSI) interfaces, Pointof Sale (POS) interfaces, fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), andthe like. Generally, such interfaces 110 may include ports appropriatefor communication with appropriate media. In some cases, they may alsoinclude an independent processor and, in some in stances, volatileand/or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM).

Although the system shown in FIG. 1 illustrates one specificarchitecture for a computing device 100 for implementing one or more ofthe inventions described herein, it is by no means the only devicearchitecture on which at least a portion of the features and techniquesdescribed herein may be implemented. For example, architectures havingone or any number of processors 103 may be used, and such processors 103may be present in a single device or distributed among any number ofdevices. In one embodiment, a single processor 103 handlescommunications as well as routing computations, while in otherembodiments a separate dedicated communications processor may beprovided. In various embodiments, different types of features orfunctionalities may be implemented in a system according to theinvention that includes a client device (such as a tablet device orsmartphone running client software) and server systems (such as a serversystem described in more detail below).

Regardless of network device configuration, the system of the presentinvention may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as,for example, remote memory block 120 and local memory 101) configured tostore data, program instructions for the general-purpose networkoperations, or other information relating to the functionality of theembodiments described herein (or any combinations of the above). Programinstructions may control execution of or comprise an operating systemand/or one or more applications, for example. Memory 120 or memories101, 120 may also be configured to store data structures, configurationdata, encryption data, historical system operations information, or anyother specific or generic non-program information described herein.

Because such information and program instructions may be employed toimplement one or more systems or methods described herein, at least somenetwork device embodiments may include nontransitory machine-readablestorage media, which, for example, may be configured or designed tostore program instructions, state information, and the like forperforming various operations described herein. Examples of suchnontransitory machine-readable storage media include, but are notlimited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, andmagnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical mediasuch as optical disks, and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-onlymemory devices (ROM), flash memory, solid state drives, memristormemory, random access memory (RAM), and the like. Examples of programinstructions include both object code, such as may be produced by acompiler, machine code, such as may be produced by an assembler or alinker, byte code, such as may be generated by for example a Java™compiler and may be executed using a Java virtual machine or equivalent,or files containing higher level code that may be executed by thecomputer using an interpreter (for example, scripts written in Python,Perl, Ruby, Groovy, or any other scripting language).

In some embodiments, systems according to the present invention may beimplemented on a standalone computing system. Referring now to FIG. 2 ,there is shown a block diagram depicting a typical exemplaryarchitecture of one or more embodiments or components thereof on astandalone computing system. Computing device 200 includes processors210 that may run software that carry out one or more functions orapplications of embodiments of the invention, such as for example aclient application 230. Processors 210 may carry out computinginstructions under control of an operating system 220 such as, forexample, a version of Microsoft's Windows™ operating system, Apple's MacOS/X or iOS operating systems, some variety of the Linux operatingsystem, Google's Android™ operating system, or the like. In many cases,one or more shared services 225 may be operable in system 200, and maybe useful for providing common services to client applications 230.Services 225 may for example be Windows™ services, user-space commonservices in a Linux environment, or any other type of common servicearchitecture used with operating system 210. Input devices 270 may be ofany type suitable for receiving user input, including for example akeyboard, touchscreen, microphone (for example, for voice input), mouse,touchpad, trackball, or any combination thereof. Output devices 260 maybe of any type suitable for providing output to one or more users,whether remote or local to system 200, and may include for example oneor more screens for visual output, speakers, printers, or anycombination thereof. Memory 240 may be random-access memory having anystructure and architecture known in the art, for use by processors 210,for example to run software. Storage devices 250 may be any magnetic,optical, mechanical, memristor, or electrical storage device for storageof data in digital form. Examples of storage devices 250 include flashmemory, magnetic hard drive, CD-ROM, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, systems of the present invention may be implementedon a distributed computing network, such as one having any number ofclients and/or servers. Referring now to FIG. 3 , there is shown a blockdiagram depicting an exemplary architecture for implementing at least aportion of a system according to an embodiment of the invention on adistributed computing network 300. According to the embodiment, anynumber of clients 330 may be provided. Each client 330 may run softwarefor implementing client-side portions of the present invention; clientsmay comprise a system 200 such as that illustrated in FIG. 2 . Inaddition, any number of servers 320 may be provided for handlingrequests received from one or more clients 330. Clients 330 and servers320 may communicate with one another via one or more electronic networks310, which may be in various embodiments any of the Internet, a widearea network, a mobile telephony network, a wireless network (such asWiFi, Wimax, and so forth), or a local area network (or indeed anynetwork topology known in the art; the invention does not prefer any onenetwork topology over any other). Networks 310 may be implemented usingany known network protocols, including for example wired and/or wirelessprotocols.

In addition, in some embodiments, servers 320 may call external services370 when needed to obtain additional information, or to refer toadditional data concerning a particular call. Communications withexternal services 370 may take place, for example, via one or morenetworks 310. In various embodiments, external services 370 may compriseweb-enabled services or functionality related to or installed on thehardware device itself. For example, in an embodiment where clientapplications 230 are implemented on a smartphone or other electronicdevice, client applications 230 may obtain information stored in aserver system 320 in the cloud or on an external service 370 deployed onone or more of a particular enterprise's or user's premises.

In some embodiments of the invention, clients 330 or servers 320 (orboth) may make use of one or more specialized services or appliancesthat may be deployed locally or remotely across one or more networks310. For example, one or more databases 340 may be used or referred toby one or more embodiments of the invention. It should be understood byone having ordinary skill in the art that databases 340 may be arrangedin a wide variety of architectures and using a wide variety of dataaccess and manipulation means. For example, in various embodiments oneor more databases 340 may comprise a relational database system using astructured query language (SQL), while others may comprise analternative data storage technology such as those referred to in the artas “NoSQL” (for example, Hadoop Cassandra, Google BigTable, and soforth). In some embodiments, variant database architectures such ascolumn-oriented databases, in-memory databases, clustered databases,distributed databases, or even flat file data repositories may be usedaccording to the invention. It will be appreciated by one havingordinary skill in the art that any combination of known or futuredatabase technologies may be used as appropriate, unless a specificdatabase technology or a specific arrangement of components is specifiedfor a particular embodiment herein. Moreover, it should be appreciatedthat the term “database” as used herein may refer to a physical databasemachine, a cluster of machines acting as a single database system, or alogical database within an overall database management system. Unless aspecific meaning is specified for a given use of the term “database”, itshould be construed to mean any of these senses of the word, all ofwhich are understood as a plain meaning of the term “database” by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art.

Similarly, most embodiments of the invention may make use of one or moresecurity systems 360 and configuration systems 350. Security andconfiguration management are common information technology (IT) and webfunctions, and some amount of each are generally associated with any ITor web systems. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill inthe art that any configuration or security subsystems known in the artnow or in the future may be used in conjunction with embodiments of theinvention without limitation, unless a specific security 360 orconfiguration system 350 or approach is specifically required by thedescription of any specific embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary overview of a computer system 400 as may beused in any of the various locations throughout the system. It isexemplary of any computer that may execute code to process data. Variousmodifications and changes may be made to computer system 400 withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the system and methoddisclosed herein. CPU 401 is connected to bus 402, to which bus is alsoconnected memory 403, nonvolatile memory 404, display 407, I/O unit 408,and network interface card (NIC) 413. I/O unit 408 may, typically, beconnected to keyboard 409, pointing device 410, hard disk 412, andreal-time clock 411. NIC 413 connects to network 414, which may be theInternet or a local network, which local network may or may not haveconnections to the Internet. Also shown as part of system 400 is powersupply unit 405 connected, in this example, to ac supply 406. Not shownare batteries that could be present, and many other devices andmodifications that are well known but are not applicable to the specificnovel functions of the current system and method disclosed herein.

In various embodiments, functionality for implementing systems ormethods of the present invention may be distributed among any number ofclient and/or server components. For example, various software modulesmay be implemented for performing various functions in connection withthe present invention, and such modules may be variously implemented torun on server and/or client components.

Conceptual Architecture

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary system architecture 500 forproviding integrated consumer interaction via media broadcasts,according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, asystem 500 may comprise an immediate communication system (ICS) 501,that may be any suitable hardware or software component such as asoftware application operating on a computing device such as a server,or may be a software app operating on a consumer's personal device suchas a smartphone or any other device suitable for media consumption orcommunication. In this manner, it can be appreciated that the functionsof an ICS (as described below) may be provided as a service that may addfunction to existing media consumption (such as by operating on the“backend”, adding function to services provided to consumer deviceswithout any modification of those devices or even the consumer'sknowledge), or may be provided as a dedicated solution such as asoftware app that consumers may choose to install on their device, suchthat they may choose when to utilize the additional functions provided(such as by viewing media through an integrated media consumption andcommunications app, rather than using an integrated approach withexisting media consumption solutions).

As illustrated, an ICS 501 may engage in two-way communications withcontent providers 502 and communication systems 503 such as contactcenters or personal contact means (such as an email or cellularcommunications provider), and may also be connected to a database 505(that may be any suitable data storage means, such as physical storagedevices or software-based data storage means as are common in the art).As further illustrated, content providers 502 may present media toconsumers 504 for viewing, such as providing broadcasts of audio, video,or other media content for consumption. It should be appreciated thatall connections shown may vary in nature such as being remoteconnections via the Internet or similar data communications network, ormay be direct connections such as systems operating on a local areanetwork (LAN) via wireless or direct physical connectionsinterchangeably, and that such connections are shown in an abbreviatedform for the sake of illustration clarity.

Consumers may be able to send requests 510 to content providers, such asto request communication with parties relevant to media being viewed(such as requesting to contact a company while viewing an advertisementabout a product or service they offer). These requests may be passed toan ICS, optionally with additional information that may be relevant to arequest (such as information regarding a consumer's locale or deviceinformation), for handling. Additionally, an ICS 501 may communicatewith a database 505, such as to retrieve 511 information that may berelevant to request handling (such as previously-established consumerinformation, for example communication preferences or other informationthat may be relevant to interactions or their handling). An ICS may thencommunicate 512 with a communication system 503 to complete a request,such as to establish communication with them on behalf of a consumer(such as sending an email notification when requested), or to requestinteraction with a consumer (such as requesting that a contact centerplace a call to a consumer's contact number, optionally scheduling apreferred time for interaction or setting other preferences). When acommunication system 503 receives this information and any requisiteconditions are met (such as a consumer's preferred contact time or anagent is available in a consumer's preferred language), they mayestablish a two-way communication with a consumer (such as completing acall connection, or placing an outbound call to a consumer's phone).

In this manner, a request may be completed and a consumer may interactwith a desired party without ever needing to contact them directly, oreven without knowing any of their contact information (such assubmitting a request to speak with an agent on behalf of a company,without actually knowing or entering any contact information about thatcompany). Such contact information for participants (i.e., consumer 504and communication system 503) may be ascertained by an ICS 501 viacommunication with the systems or entities involved, and may be storedin a database 505 to expedite future operations 520.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

FIG. 6 is a method flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 600 forintegrated consumer contact, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention. As illustrated, in an initial step 601 a consumer may selectcontent for viewing, such as listening to an audio broadcast or watchinga video. In a next step 602, an ICS may be notified of the contentselected (and optionally any additional relevant information such as auser's device information or location, such as for determining languagepreference or local time) by a content provider, and in a substep 603 anICS may then retrieve any known information that may be relevant, suchas previously-established consumer information (such as language,location, preferred time or methods of contacts, or any other suchinformation relevant to a particular consumer), or known informationregarding communication systems or other information relevant to theparticular media being viewed, such as contact centers operated by acompany providing an advertisement, or an email address associated withan internet user that uploaded content being viewed. In a next step 604a consumer may submit a contact request, such as by selecting aninteractive interface element that submits a request, and if needed mayadditional information (such as contact preferences or deviceinformation) may be retrieved and submitted along with a request (forexample, a user may manually select or input such information such as byfilling out a form or answering prompts during request submission, or itmay be retrieved automatically, such as by reading a user's language andtime preferences from a smartphone used to submit a contact request). Ina next step 605, an ICS may process this information to determine how tohandle a contact request, such as choosing to engage a contact center ifa consumer is operating a smartphone, or to schedule a future contactattempt if a request is submitted outside of operating hours, or anyother such determination according to information received. In a nextstep 606, an ICS may communicate with a communication system appropriateto the particular request being handled, such as establishing aconnection with a contact center and providing a consumer's requestinformation to facilitate the contact center's handling of a call withthe consumer (for example, information that might traditionally beobtained by prompting a consumer to make selections via an IVR whencalling). In a next step 607, a communication system may complete aninteraction such as by communicating directly with a consumer, or byacknowledging a request such that an ICS may then connect the consumer(such as, for example, if a consumer submitted a request for a call viaa smartphone app, and subsequently waited on their phone for the requestto be handled and the call to be answered by a contact center agent). Inan optional final step 608, an ICS may optionally return a notificationto a media provider for presentation to a consumer, such as to confirm arequest was successfully submitted, or to provide any relevant detailssuch as the time of a scheduled contact.

In this manner, it can be appreciated that a variety of potentialinteraction types may be possible according to the invention, and mayaccommodate a wide variety of consumer needs, devices, communicationmeans, and media types. For example, during viewing of a televisionadvertisement a consumer might be prompted to press a button on theirremote control to request a call from a company regarding the product orservice being advertised. Upon submitting this request, the consumer'stelevision provider might provide their phone number (as may have beenused to establish their television service) to an ICS, which may thenprovide this information to a contact center for handling by an agent.An appropriately-skilled contact center agent (such as trained in theoperation of the product in the advertisement) may then receive thisrequest, and place a call to the consumer's telephone number, completingthe interaction.

Another example might be an individual listening to a streaming audioservice on their smartphone, such as via PANDORA™ or other streamingaudio service provider. The consumer might hear an advertisement betweensongs, and press a button on their streaming app to submit a request formore information regarding a product or service that was advertised. Therequest may be automatically populated with additional information thatmay be obtained from the consumer's device, such as their location,language preference, various contact information such as email address,alternate phone numbers, or even a physical address (any combination ofwhich may be stored within a smartphone or similar mobile communicationsdevice common in the art). The request may then be submitted to a knowncommunication system for the company in the advertisement, such as anemail address placed on file specifically for handling requests madethrough their PANDORA™ ads. The company may then, upon receipt of therequest and review of the information contained, choose to send aproduct catalog to the consumer's physical address that was obtainedfrom their device, as well as schedule a follow-up phone call anappropriate amount of time in the future to discuss the products withthe consumer after they have had an opportunity to review the catalogsent.

In this manner, it can be appreciated that the invention may be readilyadapted to any combination of media, consumer preference, or physicaldevice used by the consumer, and furthermore that existing devices andservices may utilize the functionality of the invention with little tono alteration—for example, PANDORA™ streaming audio broadcasts mayalready contain a variety of metadata such as artist information forsongs being played, and information relevant to the operation of theinvention (such as contact information for companies being advertised)may be included by populating fields already present but unused. In thismanner, existing services, devices, and standards may be easilyintegrated to provide the functions of the invention, and integrationmay take place without any disruption of consumer experience.Furthermore, integration may be seen as optional—some companies maychoose to offer the functionality of the invention, while others maychoose not to, and both may offer their advertisements interchangeablyvia similar media providers and to similar consumers and devices,allowing for gradual or “piecemeal” adoption, rather than forcingintegration and potentially causing issues such as (for example)companies withdrawing from particular media providers due to a desire toavoid the costs of integration.

The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications ofthe various embodiments described above. Accordingly, the presentinvention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for integrated consumer interaction,comprising: a media player application installed on a consumer device,the media player application comprising a first plurality of programminginstruction stored in a memory of, and operating on a processor of, theconsumer device; and an integrated communication server comprising amemory, a processor, and a second plurality of programmable instructionsstored in the memory of, and operating on the processor of, theintegrated communication server; wherein the first plurality ofprogramming instructions, when operating on the processor of theconsumer device, cause the consumer device to: request, receive, andstore contact and preference information from a user in a data storageoperating as a component of the consumer device; receive media contentfrom a content provider; identify the media content and contactinformation for a company associated with the media content usingmetadata associated with the media content; play the media content onthe consumer device; while the media content is playing, display aninteractive interface element within a graphical user interfaceoperating on the user's consumer device, the user interface elementgenerated in real time based on metadata associated with the mediacontent being played; connect via a network to the integratedcommunication server; and upon receipt of a user command via theinteractive interface element: retrieve consumer contact and preferencedata from the data storage; automatically retrieve real-time consumercontext data from the consumer device comprising a language preferencebased on metadata from the media content being played on the consumerdevice, or a location of the consumer device, or both; automaticallygenerate an electronic callback request comprising the real-timeconsumer context data, and the retrieved consumer contact and preferencedata; and automatically send the callback request to the integratedcommunications server; wherein the second plurality of programminginstructions, when operating on the processor of the integratedcommunication server, cause the integrated communication server to:receive connections via a network from the media player application, theconnection being prompted by the user's interaction with the interactiveinterface element displayed by the media player software on the consumerdevice; and for each such connection: receive the company contactinformation, the media content identification, and the user's contactand preference information; receive a callback request from the consumerdevice, the callback request comprising the retrieved consumer contactand preference data, from the media player on the consumer device;automatically schedule a callback to the user of the consumer devicebased at least on the received contact and preference information; andwhen scheduled, automatically place a telephone call to the consumerdevice and to a call center agent appropriately skilled to handle thespecific callback request, thereby establishing a two-way voiceconnection between the user of the consumer device and a selected callcenter agent.